Automakers Taking Simple But Effective Routes Against Theft

March 03, 1991|By Doron P. Levin, New York Times News Service.

DETROIT — Automakers are making the most of anti-theft technology, bringing out new cars with highly advanced electronic controls as well as more pedestrian measures: metals that are harder to bend and locks that are tougher to pick.

One of the most effective devices to be offered as standard equipment is an electronic system that prevents a thief from starting the car. As electronic components have replaced mechanical ones, automakers have been able to design security systems that disable vital parts like the fuel pump if the proper key is not used.

Variants of this technology have been introduced by General Motors Corp. on several models and by Toyota Motor Corp. on its fanciest Lexus luxury sedan.

``We think electronics is the way to go,`` said Donald B. Cameron, president of Tech-Cor Inc. in Wheeling, Allstate Insurance Cos.` research subsidiary.

But automakers note that previous innovations have not prevented the rate of car theft from rising steadily, and they seem ambivalent about how much more theft-resistant they want to make their vehicles.

While anti-theft features are important to buyers, especially luxury-car customers, automakers believe locked cars should not be made too difficult to open and start, since owners often lose their keys or lock them in their cars. Moreover, repossesors and tow-truck operators who must move locked cars say the new technology is making their work difficult. And so, the argument goes, even the most advanced systems are eventually breached by the most skillful thieves. Besides, if all else fails, the entire car can be lifted onto a flatbed truck and hauled away.

``There is a conflict between theft deterrence and customer convenience,`` said Sachiro Kataoka, an electronics researcher for Nissan.

``If a person locks the keys in the car, we need a way to help.``

Last spring, an illegally parked Lexus LS 400 made news in Manhattan, where cars are often stolen in a trice. A towing crew of five struggled for an hour to pick the door lock. ``Fifty spectators cheered the car,`` Newsweek reported.

Toyota later explained that Lexus LS 400 keys, which are made of an unusual nickel-silver alloy, are difficult to duplicate, and the locks are so precisely made that only the correct keys can open them.

As in many new models in recent years, the Lexus door lock is positioned so it cannot be reached with a coat hanger. In any case, the starter is electronically disabled unless the correct key is used. And Toyota has also shielded the internal lock mechanism so that it cannot be opened with a

``slim-jim,`` a blade that thieves, police and parking-lot attendants can slide between the window and rubber gasket to open a door lock.

The Lexus LS 400 also contains an alarm, although skillful thieves are not easily deterred by the noise, police officers and insurance companies say. To help Lexus owners avoid locking their keys in their cars, an electronic system prevents the locks from being activated when the driver`s seat is not occupied and the key is in the ignition. Should a key be lost, Lexus says it will deliver a new one within 24 hours.

Naturally, the electronic security system helps justify the Lexus LS 400`s $40,000 price tag, and the system is costly enough-Toyota will not say precisely how costly-so that it will probably not be used in lower-priced models.

Mercedes-Benz has taken a different approach. It has replaced the metal surrounding its ignition switches with harder and harder alloys, but the company declines to be too specific about such measures so that thieves will not become wise to them, said A.B. Shuman, a Mercedes spokesman.

Manufacturer-designed and -installed devices contrast with the approach most drivers have been taking-buying an anti-theft system and installing it themselves.

Such over-the-counter systems can range from satellite beacons to a $2 toggle switch that kills the ignition.

In the Chicago area, a satellite-based system has come on the market, costing more than $500. But nationwide, the simpler-and cheaper-devices remain the most popular. The most common devices are clubs or canes that immobilize the steering wheel.